15-year-old killed is among at least 9 shot in Chicago

Raw video where two men were shot on West 79th Street late Monday. (WGN-TV)

Raw video where two men were shot on West 79th Street late Monday. (WGN-TV)

Adam Sege and Rosemary Regina SobolTribune reporters

Cornelius German, 15, who was shot and killed blocks from President Obama's home, was one of at least nine people shot from Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning in Chicago.

Relatives said Cornelius, nicknamed Cornbread, was hanging out with friends in the backyard of a home in the 5000 block of South Evans Avenue when a dice game broke up around 9:30 p.m. Monday. Gunfire erupted and Cornelius was hit in the back and killed.

Eight other people were wounded in shootings Monday evening and early Tuesday, including four men standing in front of a home in the Englewood neighborhood.

A gunman stepped out of an Englewood gangway and fired a semi-automatic handgun at a group of men standing in the 5700 block of South Lowe Avenue around 9:40 p.m. Monday, police said.

Four men were hit. Three of them were taken in serious-to-critical condition, and the fourth was in fair condition, according to Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Meg Ahlheim.

A 19-year-old and a 30-year-old were both shot in the leg and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. A 33-year-old man shot in the chest was taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, as was a 32-year-old man shot in the stomach and arm.

Police said the men's injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

The gunman was described as a black man in his 20s with dreadlocks, about 5 feet 11 inches tall and wearing a dark-colored hoodie. There has been an internal gang conflict in that area, police said.

In other shootings:

• Around 8 p.m. Monday, two men were wounded in a drive-by shooting in the Gresham neighborhood, police said.

A passenger in the rear seat of silver SUV opened fire at a 23-year-old walking on the sidewalk of West 79th Street near South Peoria Street, News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said.

The 23-year-old man was struck in the leg, and a bullet also struck a 21-year-old man in the abdomen, police said. It appeared the two men had not been walking together, and that the 23-year-old man was the intended target, police said.

Both men were taken to Stroger hospital, where their conditions were stabilized.

• Also on Monday, a 33-year-old man was shot in the leg in a drive-by shooting about 9:10 p.m. in the Austin neighborhood, police said. The shooting occurred in the 1000 block of North Massasoit Avenue, and the man was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized.

• At about 2 a.m. Tuesday, a 22-year-old man was shot in the hand in the 3900 block of South California Avenue in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side, police said. The man was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in good condition.